κοὐκ ἄλλον ἕξεις εἰς τόδ̓, and you will not have another (to aid you) with a view to this (i.e. to the removal of the captives). For this use of “ἔχειν” cp. Andoc. or. 1 § 63 “ἕξεις ἡμᾶς ἐπιτηδείους”: for εἰς τόδ̓ cp. 507. ὡς ἔξοιδα, “"(I speak of “another,"”) for I know,” etc.: “ὡς” causal; cp. 45. οὐ ψιλὸν: see on 866. ἄσκευον: El. 36 “ἄσκευον αὐτὸν ἀσπίδων τε καὶ στρατοῦ”. The allusion is not, of course, to Creon's guards, but to some Attic accomplices, whose secret aid had emboldened him to make the attempt (1031). The ancient Greek was quick to explain disaster by treason; thus it instantly occurs to Oedipus that some Theban must have been concerned in the murder of Laïus (O. T. 124). After Aegospotami, “"the general belief...held that the Athenian fleet had been sold to perdition by some of its own commanders"” (Grote VIII. 300). Theseus had no definite ground for his suspicion, but its utterance serves to place him (for a Greek audience) on the proper level of wary sagacity.
This text is part of:
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part II: The Oedipus Coloneus. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1899.
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